Joytech Xbox 360 AV Control Center
You will never find a television in the world that will cater to all your needs to cater some space for all your expensive gears like surround sound system, Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, HD-DVD player, media center PC, PS3 and so on. But saying so, you cannot be left behind without buying all of them waiting for some manufacturer to come up with some kind of a revolution and wait forever.
The AV Tool AV-5831 Component Video AV Switcher, released in August 2006 was one of the great solutions for most of the component connections problems but it has only three input connections and can no longer be a permanent solution for your increasing number of hi definition equipments. Hence, Joytech has come up with a solution with its Control Center 540C for Xbox 360. It is basically an amplifier for four consoles on to which you can plug-in most of your consoles like Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, blu-ray player and so on, on to its rear and you can get the output out of your TV. Thus you can forget the annoying fiddles on the back of your TV and there will not be any of those expanding bundles of wires, creating an undesirable look too.
Xbox-like design:
The Joytech AV Control Center 540C for Xbox 360 Console is having an very impressive assortment of connections with Xbox 360 kind of styling. Those who like the looks of Xbox 360 will like the attire of this accessory too. Its is neither too stylish nor too bad, kind of just acceptable. Joytech has taken its time to make its AV center look less bulky by reducing the width and curvature while retaining the height and depth. These design tweaks made are certainly welcome. The only minor quibble we have with the box is that is has no auto-switching functionality in order to change channel you need to use the supplied remote control.
LCD display:
The facia of the device has a LCD display, power switch and a channel switch and, you will also find an infrared sensor which is for the remote control that is included. Like the Xbox 360, the control center can sit horizontal or vertical. A gimmick for the goodness is that, the device has a motion sensor that detects the position of your unit and rotates itself to suite the position of the unit. The LCD display allows you to give names for you channels like Wii or Xbox etc and so you will not be confused on which port is what.
Ports:
The 540C Xbox 360 AV Control centre from Joytech sports 4 rear mounted component, composite, S-Video and optical audio inputs, one front mounted composite and S-Video input, a proprietary Xbox 360 AV input and a 10/100 Ethernet hub with 5 inputs. The inclusion of an Ethernet hub is appreciable which does not define the limit of this accessory only to gaming consoles but also extends it also to next-generation DVD players and HD television receivers that utilise Internet functionality. Seems to be a lot of connectivity involved right?
The above mentioned front mounted composite and S-video inputs are hidden behind a flap, but the flap looks a little awkward to open and feels cheap too. This comes in useful if you want to connect something such as an iPod video or a camcorder. On a good note, the flap is the only area where the device feels cheap, but the overall built quality is robust.
As you know all the major functionalities of the unit is in the rear side of the unit. All the other connectivity mentioned above can be found here. Adequate space has been left between all the ports and you will not find it difficult to spot any individual connection. The built-in five port Ethernet hub is left completely differentiated just below the input connections with clear differentiation for quick and easy accessing. Each of the connections are well labelled too.
As in the case of the Xbox 360, you will be able to remove the face plate of the AV control center. On removing the face plate, you will discover a set of controls that would allow you to adjust and make changes to the appearance of your LCD, channel names, the backlight and the output settings for the Xbox 360 input. The name can be changed by lifting off the front panel of the control center and cycling through a menu. In this menu you can also choose if you want the specific output to be s-video/composite or component.
We would have highly praised Joytech if these functionalities had been included in the remote. However, removing the face place is extremely easy and should not pose any problem.
Remote control:
The Joytech AV Control center 540C has a matching remote control which is fairly functional. It has just seven buttons that includes the power button, back and forth buttons and six channel buttons. It helps you to change the channels swiftly but it would have been better to have a lot of other functionalities included. As there are very few controls, the remote control looks a bit plain. The remote is small but feels sturdy and works very well indeed. A pair of batteries for this is supplied by Joytech itself.
Output quality:
Coming to the image quality, the Joytech Xbox 360 Console AV Control Center is capable of outputting in 480p, 720p and 1080i using component cables and will also output at standard PAL resolutions. The overall picture quality of the system was good with the only problem being some shadowing over the text. The proprietary cable’s output is darker and has a more saturated as when compared to the component output, which is much brighter. But this must not worry you much as you can adjust the colour levels and the brightness on your monitor or TV. Otherwise, the picture quality is very good with no considerable signal losses or artefacts. The audio quality from both optical and analogue audio is spot on. No noticeable differences there at all. In addition, proprietary Advanced Signal Regulator Technology monitors the output channel for signal weaknesses and compensates suitably. This should not be mistaken for internal picture processing, that is not what the Control Center is about, what you put in it is what you get out. If you feed the box composite images, it will only output via composite – there’s no up-scaling in evidence.
The optical out that was found in the Xbox 360 AV cable is absent in the control center but the cables do carry 5.1 sound signal outputted via the optical out on the Control Center. You might as well be interested in knowing the difference between using a standard component cable and a propriety interconnect cable. With the propriety interconnect cable, you can have four component inputs to use that way you wish and in that way, the quality of the output is better and will not be resorting to the use of the component cables.
The 5 port Ethernet hub works extremely well. When connected to a d-link router it works flawlessly and has lights on every port which would be of great help to you while troubleshooting any problems you may incur.
Some minor issues:
Though Joytech AV center for xbox 360 Gaming Console works perfectly with the Xbox, the same cannot be expected with the Nintendo wii. As you might be already aware of, the Wii outputs are at a maximum of 480p. Most of the time, the control center manages the output in a perfect manner but in some cases such as the remote strap safety screen, the display balcks out momentarily. But the problems encountered are very limited and there is no trouble that you will be in to when you are playing the actual game.
Get a better cable:
The package includes an Ethernet cable along with a set of component video, composite and audio cables and of course the Xbox 360 AV interconnect cable. But these cables are not of that good quality and so it will be a wiser idea for you to invest over some decent set of component cables as whatever might be your console, it will not deliver the picture quality that it is potentially capable of, if you are using a poor quality cable.
Box contents and warranty:
The package contains AV Control Center, SCART Cable, S-Video / Audio Cable, Composite/ Audio Cable, Ethernet Cable, AC Power Adapter, Remote Controller, SCART Adapter and a User Guide.
Joytech Xbox 360 AV center comes with one year warranty.
Some final words:
Having said all that, if you are asking if the Joytech Control Center 540C is the final solution for all of your needs, then the answer is no. There are a few essential ports the it lacks, one among them is the HDMI which is surely going to pop up as a big issue. Though you might argue that a good TV comes with at least two HDMI inputs, we would like to say that, as time flies by, the number of utilities that require the ports will largely increase. For now the list that requires the port is, a HD-DVD player, a PS3, Apple TV etc. To increase the disappointment of Joytech, Microsoft has recently included HDMI in their Xbox too.
Verdict:
For the price tag that Joytech has put over the Xbox 360 AV center, you cannot ask for more. It is an excellent solution for most of your connection requirements if not all. It is a great gift solution for someone who you know has a truck full of gaming consoles. We, game-consoles.org, certainly recommend the Joytech Xbox 360 AV center.
You may also be interested in Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Game Console, Nintendo Wii Game Console Reviews.
Joytech Xbox 360 AV Control Center – Technical Specification Details
| Manufacturer | Joytech |
| Console type | AV control center |
| Accessory name | Joytech Xbox AV Control Center 540C |
| Form factor | Xbox 360 like |
| Display | LCD display |
| Dimensions (W X H X D) | 430 x 55 x 255mm |
| Weight | 2.10 kg |
| Audio Frequency Response | 18Hz – 20KHz |
| Audio Signal to Noise Ratio | 80db or more |
| Video Frequency Response | 12Mhz Composite signal |
| Video Signal to Noise Ratio | 50dB or more |
| Total Harmonic Distortion | Less than 0.1% @ 1Khz |
| Video Input Impedance | 75 Ohm (composite) |
| Video Output Impedance | 75 Ohm (composite) |
| Ethernet Bandwidth | up to 100Mbps |
| Electronic Power Consumption | 10 watts (1.0 watt on standby mode) |
| Power Requirements | DC 9.0V 500mA via external AC Adapter |
| Box contents | AV Control Center SCART Cable S-Video / Audio Cable Composite/ Audio Cable Ethernet Cable AC Power Adapter Remote Controller SCART Adapter User Guide |
| Warranty | One year |
